“12 Rules For Life, an antidote for chaos” by Jordan Peterson
Introduction:
As A former drug addict and former member of a criminal organization, it is safe to say that I did not value myself. And as much as we spoke about about respect and loyalty, it was limited as to who and what that applied to. Had I valued myself or my loved ones, I would not have been involved in either. Jordan Peterson talks about how easy it is to believe that people are arrogant and egotistical, and always looking out for themselves. Peterson says such an orientation to the world is not true to all characteristics of many people. They have the opposite problem. They shoulder intolerable burdens of self-disgust, self-contempt, shame and self-consciousness. Instead of narcissistically inflating their own importance, they don’t value themselves at all, and they don’t take care of themselves with attention and skill. They are excruciatingly aware of their own faults and inadequacies, real and exaggerated, and ashamed, and doubtful of their own value. They believe that other people shouldn’t suffer, and they will work diligently and altruistically to help them alleviate it. They extend the same courtesy even to the animals they are acquainted with, but not so easily to themselves. Having been half raised in a single parent, abusive home and half in the system, I lived a life of hatred toward the world and toward myself. My own self-disgust and shame continued to grow with the continued usage of drugs and the abandonment of my children and loved ones on my part. The very things I detested about my own childhood (abandonment of a parent and all the feelings associated with it all), through my lifestyle, I passed on to my own children. Serving my own multi-decade federal prison sentence has given me an opportunity to first severe the toxic relationships of people, places, and things that were a crutch for my emotions and self-destructive, and then increase self-awareness allowing me to discover and eventually value myself, and in the process mend broken relationships that I avoided for decades.
Summary:
Jordan Peterson is a clinical psychologist and one of the world’s most influential public thinkers. In 12 Rules For Life, Peterson covers topics about neurochemistry of defeat and victory; Chaos and order and living harmoniously between the two, as they are both essential parts of life. Peterson causes each reader to reevaluate their lives. It is a book of deep introspection and understanding. Principles and rules to live by.
Key Notes:
1) Compare Yourself To Who You Were Yesterday, Not Who Someone Else Is Today:
To many times I find myself comparing myself to the Adam Clausens and Michael Santos’s, and get frustrated when my own progress does not seem to reflect theirs quickly enough. Comparing myself to who I was yesterday lines up with my daily goal of “becoming a better version of myself than yesterdays version of me,” and allows me to mark my own progress on a more personal and realistic scale.
2) Clean Up Your Own Life:
Consider your circumstances. Start small. Have you taken advantage of the opportunities afforded to you? Are you letting bitterness and resentment to hold you back? Are there things you could do, that you know you could do, that would make things around you better? Have you cleaned up your life? Start to stop doing what you know to be wrong, without questioning how you know what you are doing is wrong. Inopportune questioning can confuse, without enlightening,a s well as deflecting you from action.
3) Pursue What Is Meaningful (Not What Is Expedient):
Sometimes, when things are not going well, it’s not the world that’s the cause. The cause is instead that which is most valued, subjectively and personally. Why? Because the world is revealed, to an indeterminate degree, through the template of your values. If the world you are seeing is not the world you want, therefore, it’s time to examine your values. It’s time to rid yourself of your current suppositions. It’s time to let go. It might even be time to sacrifice what you love best, so you can become who you might become, instead of being who you are.
This book caused a lot of introspection. It was very insightful and I recommend it to anyone journeying to become a better version of themselves, regardless where on that journey you might be.
